The present invention relates to a pitching machine, and more particularly to such a machine which has a variety of pitching styles such as fastballs, curve balls, sliders, etc.
A prior art pitching machine, as shown in Japanese Design Patent No. 363,180, has two rotating discs. Balls are supplied in between these discs and thrown out therefrom.
According to the prior art, the outer circumferential parts of the rotating discs are made of urethane, whose frictional force is used to throw the balls. In use, however, the urethane is worn off and the distance between the discs changes. If such change is left as it is, the pitching becomes unsteady and balls may be thrown in unexpected directions. Because of this a problem arises in that the distance between the discs must be adjusted if the outer circumference of the urethane becomes worn.
A further problem in the prior art is that the desired pitching is unavailable unless balls are correctly supplied between the rotating discs.